Seam for sewed articles



.H. C. MOULTON.

SEAM FOR SEWED ARTICLES APPLICATION FILED JULY 1.1920.

1,434,400, Patented Nov. 7, 1922.

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by 9690M Wax W ATTys.

li atented Nora 7, 1922.

UltllTEl) STETATES PATENT oFFics.

HARLEY C. MOULTON, OF DORCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIG'NOR TO ARBETTER FELLING MACHINE COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

SEAM FOB SEVTED ARTICLES.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I HARLEY Moun'ron, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Dorchester. county of Suffolk. State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improve ment in Seams for sewed Articles, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specifics tion, like characters on the drawing reprcsenting like parts.

This invention relates to improvements in seams for sewed articles designed to be made by a sewing machine and particularly adapted for felling, where the edge of a superimposed layer of fabric is attached to a main layer by blind stitches which enter and emerge from the same face of the main layer without passing entirely through said layer.

The principal object of the present inveution is to produce a seam adapted to be made upon a sewing machine which will closely resemble a handmade felled seam.

A further objectof the invention is to provide a seam of blind stitching comprising two concatenated threads in which the threads in the main layer of the material will be substantially covered by the material of the superimposed layer aft-er the stitch has been set, thereby substantially concealing the seam.

Another object of the invention to pro vide a seam of the character referred to in which the concatenating thread will overlie the edge of a layer of superimposed material and as the stitches are set up will roll over the edge of the superimposed layer in such a manner as to conceal the line of stitching.

Other objects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the follow ing description and the accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the annexed claims.

Preferred seams embodying my invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, in a very much enlarged scale, showing a seam in which the edge of a superimposed layer is attached to the main layer of material by two threads concatenated into two rows of parallel stitches, one series of parallel manner in which the stitches are formed.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a seam ii which the layer of stitches in the main and superimposed layers are disposed in opposite, angular arrangement to the edge of the superimposed layer to those illustrated in 4 Fig. 1.

Various types of blind stitch seams have heretofore been employed for securing the edge of a superimposed layer to a main layer ofmaterial in which one or more rows or loops of thread and concatenating means have been employed, but in such cases the embedded portions of the stitches in the superimposed layer have either been located outside of the edge of the superimposed layer, or if located beneath the edge of the superimposed layer have extended as nearly as possible in parallelism with the edge of said superimposed layer.

The present invention contemplates the production of a seam for sewed articles ll'z which the embedded portions of the stitches in the main layer shall lie partially or wholly beneath the edge of the superimposed layer and the embedded portions of the stitches in the superimposed layer shall lie in angular relation to the edge of said layer with means for concatenating the stitches of the main and superimposed layers.

The seams forming the subject matter of the present invention, and which are illustrated herein, are adapted to be made upon a sewing machine having a curved oscillating needle and complementary stitch forming mechanism and in which the needle is preferably oscillated in a vertical plane which is inclined more or less obliquely to the vertical plane of the edge of the superimposed layer, the stitches in the main layer in each instance being so disposed that a part or all of said stitches lie beneath the superimposed layer.

In the formation of the seam forming the subject matter of the present invention, the concatenating thread preferably is carried through the loops of the needle thread by a bobbin. It will be understood that by adjusting the relative tensions upon the needle thread and upon the bobbin thread the points of concatenation between the loops of needle thread and the loops of bobbin thread may be located in any desired position, such as upon the face of the base or of the superimposed layer, or can be drawn into said layers in such a manner as to conceal the points of concatenation of the loops of needle and bobbin thread.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing the base layer 1 has superimposed upon it a layer 2 of material, such as lining, which has an edge 3 inturned' as usual in felling. In making this form of seam two threads are employed which may be described as a needle thread 4 and a bobbin thread 5, although so far as the seam structure is concerned it is immaterial what instrumentalities are employed for placing the threads in the work, or concatenating them, and it is also immaterial whether the tension upon the respective threads is such as to cause the points of concatenation "to lie upon the surface or surfaces of the work or to be imbedded therein.

Inasmuch as the present invention is designed to be made upon a sewing machine comprising a curved oscillating needle and complementary stitch forming mechanism for concatenating a thread in the loops of needle thread the seam will be described as constructed by such a machine.

In forming the seam illustrated in Fig. 1 by a machine of the class described, the needle is preferably caused to oscillate in a vertical plane which is obliquely inclined to the edge of the superimposed layer and is caused to enter the base layer at a point 6 which desirably is outside of the edge of the superimposed layer. The needle in its penetrating stroke, therefore, passes downwardly through the upper surface of the layer, but not entirely through said layer, and emerges at a point 7 which is beyond or back of the edge of the superimposed layer.

In order to form such a stitch in the main layer the superimposed layer is bent upwardly, as illustrated in an exaggerated fashion in Fig. 1, so that the point of the needle emerging from the upper surface of the main layer will not penetrate the superimposed layer. After the needle has emerged from the main layer in the manner above described it is retracted to form a loop 8 through which the concatenating or bobbin thread 5 is passed. The needle is then fully retracted and the material fed forward in the usual manner. In the meantime the needle is shogged laterally in the direction of the superimposed layer. It is then again oscillated and caused to enter the under-surface of the superimposed layer at a point 9 from which it passes upwardly through the superimposed layer and emerges therefrom at a point 10 which may be located either back of the edge of the superimposed layer as illustrated in Fig. 1, or in the edge of the superimposed layer if said edge is bent upwardly into the path of the needle, or the edge of the superimposed layer may if desired be bent upwardly so far as to cause the point of emergence 10 to lie beneath the edge of the superimposed layer when the latter is restored to its flator normal condition upon the main layer.

When the needle has emerged from the superimposed layer it is retracted to form a loop 11 through which the concatenating or bobbin thread is passed. Upon the retraction of the needle in each case the needle thread may be drawn up to set the stitch and the position of the loops 8 and 11 inthe fabric will be dependent upon the relative tension imposed upon the needle thread and the concatenating thread so that the loops may be caused to lie upon the surface of the main or superimposed layer as illustrated herein, or may be drawn any desired distance into said layers respectively. After the needle has been withdrawn from the superimposed layer it is shogged laterally away from the edge of the superimposed layer, and the material is advanced the length of the stitch by the usual feeding mechanism of the sewing machine. The needle is then again oscillated and caused to penetrate the main layer at another point 6 outside of the edge of the superimposed layer and to emerge at another point 7 back of the edge of the superimposed layer, whereupon another loop R is formed through which the concatenating or bobbin thread is introduced. The needle is then withdrawn, the stitch set, the material fed forward again, the needle in the meantime being shogged again toward the edge of the superimposed layer, so that upon its next oscillation it will again penetrate the under-surface of the superimposed layer at a point 9 and will emerge therefrom at a point 10 thereby permitting the formation of another loop 11 through which the concatenating or bobbin thread is passed and this operation continues until a seam of the desired length is formed.

In the formation of the seam illustrated in Fig. 1,the needle is oscillated in parallel, vertical planes so that the embedded portions of the stitches in the main layer are always parallel and are in angular, preferably obliquely angular, relation to the edge of the superimposed layer. Likewise, the embedded portions of the stitches in the superimposed layer lie in parallelism and are obliquely inclined to the edge of the superimposed layer.

13y reason of the fact that the points of emergence of the needle from the upper surface of the main layer is in each instance back of the edge of the superimposed layer, when the latter lies in its normal position, the tension upon the needle thread and bobbin thread may be so correlated as either to cause the concatenating or bobbin thread to lie over the edge of the superimposed layer illustrated herein when a light tension is imposed upon the bobbin thread, or to cause the edge of the superimposed layer to be.

rolled over when a heavy tension is imposed upon the bobbin thread in such a manner as practically to conceal said concatenating or bobbin thread beneath the edge of the superimposed layer, in which instance the stitch will be substantially or wholly concealed beneath the superimposed layer.

In the construction as shown in Fig. 2 a similar manipulation of the threads is performed, except that the needle instead of being presented to the goods with its point approaching the edge of the superimposed layer is presented to the goods with the point diverging away from the edge of the superimposed layer. ln the formation of this seam the needle is likewise oscillated in parallel, preferably vertical, planes and the edge of the superimposed layer is rolled upwardly and laterally to expose the surface of the main layer which normally is covered by the superimposed layer.

The needle thread 12 upon its first oscillation is caused to enter the upper surface of the main layer at a point 13 back of the edge of the superimposed layer and to emerge at a point 14: which may be beneath or outside of the edge of the superimposed layer. Upon retraction of the needle a loop 15 is formed through which the concatenating or bobbin thread 16 is passed. The needle is then completely retracted, the material fed forward and in the meantime the needle shogged toward the superimposed layer so that upon its next oscillation it will enter the under-surface of the superimposed layer at a point 17 farther back from the edge of the superimposed layer than the point 13 in which the needle previously penetrated the main layer. The needle then passes through the upturned portion of the superimposed layer emerging at a point 18 which may be at or beneath the edge of the superimposed layer. Upon retraction of the needle a loop 19 is formed through which the concatenating or bobbin thread 16 is passed. The needle is then fully retracted and the goods fed forward, the needle in the meantime being shogged laterally in a direction away from the edge of the superimposed layer, so that upon the next oscillation of the needle it will again penetrate the main layer at a point 13 baclr from the edge of the superimposed layer and will emerge at a point 14; at or beneath the edge of the superimposed layer so that upon the next retraction of the needle another loop 15 will be formed through which the concatenating or bobbin thread is passed.

After the needle has been retracted and the goods fed forward and the needle again oscillated in a direction toward the edge of the superimposed layer the next oscillation of the needle will cause the same to penetrate the superimposed layer at a similar point 17 and to emerge at a point 18 at or beneath the edge of the superimposed layer so that a new loop 19 will be formed through which the concatenating or bobbin thread is passed to form another stitch. This operation may be repeated until a seam of the desired length is formed.

In the seam illustrated in Fig. 2 the embedded portions of the needle thread are located well beneath the edge of the superimposed layer and inasmuch as the points of emergence of the needle thread from the su perimposed layer may be at or beneath the edge of the superimposed layer the tension upon the needle and bobbin threads may be readily so adjusted as to cause the superimposed layer to roll over and substantially or entirely conceal both the needle and bobbin threads thereby producing a seam of concealed blind stitching.

It will be noted that the seam formed as illustrated in Fig. 2, like that illustrated in Fig. 1, comprises two threads concatenated into two series of parallel stitches, one in the main layer and the other in the superimposed layer, extending in angular relation to the edge of the superimposed layer, the embedded portions of the stitches in the main layer in each case entering into and emerging from the surface of the base layer and extending beneath the edge of the superimposed layer, while the stitches in the superimposed layer enter the undersurface of said layer and upon emergence from said layer are concatenated by a thread which passes through the several loops of needle thread. Thus the embedded portions of the stitches in the main layer may in each instance be substantially or wholly concealed beneath the edge of the superimposed layer.

It will be understood that while the invention disclosed herein as formedby a sewing machine comprising a curved oscillating needle and complementary stitch forming mechanism it may be formed by other thread manipulating mechanism, or by hand, within the meaning and scope of the following claims.

It will also be understood that the invention is not restricted to the use of two separate concatenated threads, but that any means may be employed for concatenating the loops which are introduced in the main and superimposed layers Within the scope of my invention as claimed herein.

superimposed layer the embedded portions.

of the loops in the main layer entering and emerging from the upper surface of said layer and extending beneath and beyond the edge of the superimposed layer and means for concatenating said loops.

2. A seam for served articles comprising a main layer of fabric and a superimposed layer presenting an edge thereon, said layers being fastened together by a thread presenting two series of parallel loops located respectively in the main superimposed layers in angular relation to the edge of the superimposed layer, the embedded portions of the loops in the main layer entering and emerging from the upper surface of said layer and extending beneath and beyond the edge of the superimposed layer, the loops in the superimposed layer entering; the underin the main la er from the ed e thereotand means for concatenating said loops.

3. A seam for sewed articles comprising a main layer of fabric and superimposel layer pres nting an edge thereon said l Q rs being fastened together by a thread p ing two series of parallel loops lo spectively in the main and superimpos layers in obliquely angular relation to the edge of the superimposed layer, the embedded portions of loops in said main layer entering the upper surface of said layer at points outside or" the ed of the superimposed layer and emerging rom the upper surface of said r at points back of the edge of the Jerimposed layer, the embedded portions or the loops in the superimposed layer enter-ir the HIlClGTSIlF- face or. said layer at points remote from the edge oi said layer than the points the of emergence the stitches in the main layer and emerging from the upper surface of the superimposed layer adjacent to the ed e thereof, and concatenating thread ensaid loops and overlying the edge portion of the superimposed layer. 7

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HARLEY G. MOULTON. 

